Source: SrdjanPav / Getty
Arielle Haspel, the White owner of Lucky Lee’s, a new “Chinese restaurant” that serves a “clean” take on the cuisine, is getting doused in slander sauce for cultural appropriation.
Add Chinese food on the list of things White folks are trying to whitewash. The Manhattan nutritionist felt the need to open up the restaurant where both she and her food-sensitive clients could enjoy Chinese cuisine that wasn’t “too oily” or made them feel “bloated and icky.”
Lucky Lee’s was is that place, and since it’s Monday opening, she has been catching more heat than the “clean” food the restaurant serves. Things like the restaurant’s name Lee’s is obviously nauseating because both Haspel and her husband are not Asian, the inside features bamboo and jade decorations and the logo features a chopstick-inspired font. So yeah it’s no surprise she is getting fried like rice on Twitter.
Haspel claims in an interview on Thursday that she had nothing but good intentions when she opened up the restaurant and was “shocked” when critics called her out for cultural appropriation.
“We are so sorry,” Ms. Haspel said. “We were never trying to do something against the Chinese community. We thought we were complementing an incredibly important cuisine, in a way that would cater to people that had certain dietary requirements.”
Trying to get ahead of the backlash she even began deleting problematic posts off her Instagram account but it’s too late cause the damage has already been done. She also mentioned passing on a ridiculous idea to put a decal in the window that said: “Wok in, Take Out.”
Whether her cultural appropriation is on purpose or accidental is still an issue, and Twitter definitely let her know that it is not here for her “clean” Chinese food.
—
Photo: SrdjanPav / Getty
1.
Also FYI:
— chyaa bé-bé (@chyaabebe) April 10, 2019
✅ The universe of Chinese food is multiethnic and complex
✅ Clean eating is not just for white people/food made by non-white people is not inherently unhealthy and dirty
✅ MSG is delicious and will not kill you
✅ Patsy's Pizzeria never tried this sh*t #luckylees
2.
American Chinese food is a product of an era when Chinese immigrants had to assimilate their own food traditions to survive. The food that she disparages is a relic of that exclusion & struggle. This is insulting and exploitative. #luckylees https://t.co/YLusfyS9iM
— chyaa bé-bé (@chyaabebe) April 10, 2019
3.
One of the worst non-apologies Ive ever read. “My Husband’s name is Lee and we are Jewish New-Yorkers so this is ok.” #luckylees pic.twitter.com/18H6AtWdbX
— Crystals in the Coochie Tweeter✨🔮🐈💦 (@BasicBlaecGirl) April 9, 2019
4.
Possible case of appropriation aside, If you are going to take up a cultural group's food, do it some justice (basic decency) by NOT marketing your 'differentiation' with language that further reinforces stereotypes/racist perceptions.
— Kevin Huang｜黃儀軒 😷 (@yskevinhuang) April 11, 2019
cc #luckylees https://t.co/Pra4hswYLd
5.
Ohhhh I CANNOT with Lucky Lee’s, this new “clean Chinese restaurant” that some white wellness blogger just opened in New York. Her blog talks about how “Chinese food is usually doused in brown sauces” and makes your eyes puffy. Lady, what? #luckylees pic.twitter.com/ASXtVs3kFS
— MacKenzie Chung Fegan (@mackenzief) April 9, 2019
6.
I looked deeper and I wanna throw up, jokes on u #luckylees I feel amazing every time I eat real Chinese food because it is delicious and it nourishes my Chinese soul
— pinds 🐘⚾️💚💛 (@avocadoloha) April 8, 2019
7.
Whatever you feel about the #LuckyLees situation is your prerogative, but it's not just fucking food. Food is a connection to culture. Food is a representation of ethnicity. Food is often how different groups find a link to who they are.
— Jared Chiang-Zeizel (@chiangzeizel) April 10, 2019
8.
my favorite part is how they're pretending the restaurant name is not a cheap attempt to trick people into thinking it's genuine chinese cuisine. LEE IS THE HUSBAND'S FIRST NAME AND HE'S WHITE lmao #luckylees
— lauren 👾 ipsum (@hambsanitizer) April 9, 2019
9.
It is, but in the context of an Chinese restaurant, it will almost always being thought of as an Asian name. Either the creators of #luckylees thought they could get away with it or they're incrediably ignorant to reality.
— Jared Chiang-Zeizel (@chiangzeizel) April 10, 2019
10.
THE CAUCASITY 🤦🏻♀️ https://t.co/C4WzBPULlP
— Black Trans Lives Matter (@growmegangrow) April 10, 2019
11.
I haven't gone to this place (yet?), but it sounds questionable just from its own description of the Chinese food it tries to emulate. And the name #luckylees is apparently inspired by her white husband. Riiiiiiggghhht... 🤮 https://t.co/pXjdkBk2fP
— Ray Liu (@RayLiuNYC) April 10, 2019
12.
If there’s one thing Chinese people do right: it’s food (thousands of years of history, dozens of regional styles)
— wangytangy (@yuebrucewang) April 11, 2019
White people invented McDonalds, obesity, eating salad at your desk... and therefore should not be authorities on anyone else’s food.#LuckyLees
13.
This lady and her husband want to serve American Chinese food. Okay. I’m suspicious but let’s see. Then she calls the restaurant #LuckyLees, which most people will assume means there’s a person of Chinese heritage behind the scenes. Except no. It’s just a white dude named Lee.
— Joy Piedmont (@InquiringJoy) April 9, 2019
14.
Can’t even fathom the sheer ignorance of this woman that she thought, “I’ve got a revolutionary idea! I’ll make Chinese food but it will actually be good, tasty and fresh! It has NEVER been done before! EVEN ACTUAL ASIANS HAVE NEVER KNOWN FOOD LIKE THIS!” 😂😂😂 #LuckyLees pic.twitter.com/zzmOJCBquf
— storme ⚡️ (@StormeKels) April 11, 2019
15.
If #luckylees isn't a peak culmination of white people making fun of Asian food for being "gross, greasy, just MSG" when you were a kid and then turning around and making a "clean" Chinese restaurant....i have to chortle
— Cat 🤸🏻♀ (@ellocatty) April 9, 2019